Choosing a Tent for Winter, and Pitching it

A Tent for Winter

• Look for a narrow dome, or a ridge design. The less flat the roof is, the better. A flat roof can accumulate snow. This places the tent poles under undue stress. It can also lead to you and the porch getting covered in snow when you enter and leave the tent. A narrow dome or a ridge design will solve this problem.
• Look for a flysheet (outer tent) which comes down to the ground all the way around. A lot of snow might accumulate around the tent. Any snow which gets under the flysheet and touches the inner tent can lead to damp problems as it melts. However...
• Look for a groundsheet that comes a decent way up the sides of the inner tent - sometimes these are called "bathtub" groundsheets. This will reduce the problems with any snow that builds up between the inner and the flysheet. The more the groundsheet extends up the sides of the inner tent, the more you can get away with a flysheet that doesn't quite come all the way down to the ground.
• Look for a tent with lots of guy lines, and lots of pegging out points on the flysheet. Not only can it be much more windy in winter, but also it can be very hard to securely peg out guy lines in snow. Therefore, the more points that you can peg out, the more chance of the tent staying put in a strong wind! That said, however...
• Look for a design that retains its structure even when it is not pegged out. Such designs are often called "free-standing," and usually consist of at least two hooped poles crossing each other. Avoid tents which completely collapse when you remove all the pegs. Such designs, when one peg comes lose, put a lot more load on to the other pegs. The other pegs then come lose, and the tent falls down. If pitching in snow, where it is hard to get a solid peg placement, this is not a good thing - it is better to have a design which has minimum dependency on pegging-out.
• Look for a tent with two entrances. This helps in many ways. Two entrances can be a good thing in any weather, especially if there are two or more people in the tent. In winter, two entrances can become even more useful. Firstly, in a blizzard, you can use the down-wind side to make getting in and out more comfortable. Secondly, if a lot of wind-driven snow accumulates against one entrance, the other entrance can be used instead. Another practical consideration is that you will probably find yourself cooking in the porch a lot in poor winter conditions, in spite of any safety warnings about cooking in tents! If there should be an accident, there is always the other exit...
• Look for snow valances, or the option of adding snow valances. A snow valance is an extra flap of material which is attached to the bottom of the flysheet, ideally all the way around the tent. They seem quite rare these days, and if a tent has them the chances are it is a very expensive tent designed especially for winter mountaineering - but it is worth looking out for this feature, anyway. Snow can be piled on top of these flaps. There are two primary benefits: One is that it will then be very hard for snow to get under the flysheet; the other is that the weight of the snow on top of the valances will add to the overall security in strong winds.
• Consider ventilation. If the flysheet comes all the way to the ground, and/or there is snow all around the bottom of the tent - then the tent must allow air flow from places higher up. Are there at least two substantial vents placed high-up? Is there plenty of room between the inner and outer tents? Can the flysheet be unzipped from the top, in such a way that airflow is increased, but snowfall will still not enter the tent? Opinions vary, but I say the more ventilation the better. It may mean the tent gets colder, but I prefer to rely on my sleeping bag to provide warmth, while keeping the tent fully vented to minimise condensation problems. If condensation becomes a real problem, this can result in a wet sleeping bag amongst other things, so any attempts to increase warmth in the tent by closing vents can ultimately have a negative effect. Furthermore, the greater the size and number of ventilation points, the less the danger of the tent becoming totally sealed by accumulated snow.
• Avoid materials which change properties in freezing weather. A particular example is the use of "window" material, i.e. panels of clear material in the flysheet, usually at the porch, which allow you to see outside. Try to find out what the material is, and whether it is likely to become brittle in low temperatures. The chances are, unless a specific claim is made about the suitability of such a material for freezing temperatures, then it will not be suitable - it will crack and split easily.
• Look for a tent with comfortable living space. The daylight hours are fewer in winter, and you might find yourself spending a lot more time awake in the tent than you do during summer. It can be nice to have a tent which allows you to sit up comfortably, and spread your gear around a bit. You might also want to do a lot more cooking in the tent than usual - a big porch makes this more comfortable and more safe.

Pitching a Tent in Snow

• Snow shovel. A snow shovel is certainly NOT a requirement, but if you will be pitching a tent regularly in a very snowy environment, then a tool of some sort to help you shift snow can be very beneficial. However, for the purpose of pitching a tent, often it is adequate simply to ensure you have solid waterproof clothing (leggings, gaiters, boots, jacket and gloves) so that you can use your hands and feet to shift snow without danger of getting cold and wet.
• Standard tent pegs. In cases where the covering of snow is relatively thin, it often pays to clear the snow away right down to the ground, so that ordinary tent pegs can be driven into the ground. Bear in mind that the ground is likely to be frozen and very hard, so strong tent pegs which can take a pounding with a rock or tool are the order of the day. Thick, short, round aluminium pegs with pointed tips are ideal for this. The security that can be gained by this "digging-in" approach (i.e. digging in to the snow to pitch the tent on solid ground) is well worth the effort. Not only does it enable solid peg placement, but it also reduces the amount of the tent that is exposed to any wind. In fact, this approach should only be avoided if: (1) The effort is too great (e.g. because the snow is too hard or deep), or (2) It would result in a tent which is dangerously low down compared to the surrounding snow - this could result in suffocation if the tent becomes encased in falling or collapsing snow overnight.
• Snow stakes. If "digging-in" is not an option, sometimes snow stakes are the best bet. Unfortunately, however, not only are snow stakes much more bulky and heavy [Ray Gears speaks: "A big aluminium snow stake is about 12" long and weighs about 40g. Shorter and lighter are available."] to carry than ordinary pegs, but, in practice, they don't always hold too well. If this method is chosen, then it pays to put a lot of effort into trampling on the snow all over the spot where you intend to camp. This reduces the extent to which the tent itself will "sink" into the snow when you are in it, and also provides more compact snow for the snow stakes to be driven into. Put extra effort into compressing the snow all around the snow stakes, and use as many stakes as you can.
• Bags. Any bags that can be filled with snow and attached to guy lines are useful. They can be cheap, disposable things like rubble sacks, or even things such as stuff sacks. The idea is to fill them with snow and attach them to guy lines, then bury them in the snow and pack the snow around them tightly. They make very good anchors, and taking at least 4 of these things (one for each "corner" guy rope, depending on tent design) is a good idea. Whatever type of container is chosen, bear in mind that in a strong gust of wind, the fabric of the container will be tested, and you should pay most attention to how you can solidly tie the guy rope to the container in such a way that it won't rip or untie in a strong gust.
• Natural features. It pays to look out for any natural objects that can help you secure the tent. Watch out for trees, however. It can be very tempting to tie guy lines around trees in a difficult situation, but that means your tent will be under a tree - and that tree either will already have, or could gain overnight, a lot of snow. That snow could, at any time, end up on your tent in one big fall. A better thing to look out for is movable rocks. These can be used as anchors for guy lines. It is still important to compress the snow under the rock in order to minimise the extent to which it will "sink" overnight - any sinkage could put too much stress on the tent where the guy lines are attached. Having extra-long guy lines (or taking some spare lengths) helps to make use of natural features.